The Volcano Smeroe (View from the Passaroeng Residence)

Description

This colored lithograph shows Smeroe (Semeru), the largest volcano on the island of Java. Also known as Mahameru, or the Great Mountain, the volcano erupted at least once a year during the 19th century, and since 1967 has been in a state of near-constant activity. This view from the town of Pasuruan shows a plume of smoke coming from the top of mountain. The Dutch painter Abraham Salm (1801-76) spent 29 years in Indonesia, where he produced many dramatic landscape paintings. This lithograph is one of 15 views of Java, based on Salm’s work, made by the Dutch engraver J.C. Grieve and published in Amsterdam in 1872. The work is from the collections of the KITLV/Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies in Leiden.